My Daughter has a global developmental delay, which necessitates breaking learning down into very concrete parts.
Using Color to Bridge the Gap
When introducing math, with the premise my daughter would transition eventually into the Math-U-See curriculum, I determined to make my adapted materials with the same colors that Math-U-See uses, so as not to confuse her later with color changes.
Solidifying One-to-One Correspondence
Instead of starting right away with the Math-U-See connected cubes, I used Unifix cubes for her. I also associated each color with an object. 1 green frog, 2 orange ducks, 3 pink pigs, 4 yellow chicks, 5 blue whales, 6 purple princesses, 7 vanilla cones and so on.
I made cards, laminated them, and then adhered Velcro to the card as well as matching laminated colored paper squares. This way, my daughter could attached the squares to the card and the process would reinforce the one-to-one correspondence of the number to the counting and the Math-U-See color.
I also made cards to match the Unifix cubes so my daughter could use the manipulatives in different ways, thus transfer the associations I was trying to bridge for her through these exercises.
Successful Transition
After breaking down these processes, to include more hands on activities, my daughter was eventually able to transfer her learned knowledge and complete similar pencil and paper tasks with the Math-U-See blocks.
My daughter is now on her way, and working through the Math-U-See Primer. The only modifications she has now, is the use of stamps, which is a big leap from where she started. I cannot tell you how exciting that is, not only my husband and I, but also for her.
My daughter is living proof that every child has potential to learn when they are taught at the speed, and in the way, they need to learn!
Disclaimer: The blog writer and SPED Homeschool do not represent Math-U-See/Demme Learning. Math-U-See/Demme Learning does not sell a package containing all of the modifications shown in this blog. Math-U-See/Demme Learning has not not reviewed these modifications pedagogically. For this reason, Math-U-See/Demme Learning does not agree or disagree whether these modifications might work for other students.
